Salmon: Rx for soldier suicides?

Thursday’s San Antonio Express-News story on the potential benefits of omega-3 fatty acids on U.S. troops suffering from depression and suicidal thoughts is one of the first good pieces of news on the subject in years. And God knows, there’s been plenty of bad news.

A military that’s scrambling for ways to stop these deaths offered a collectively cool response, with one expert expressing skepticism and others saying more study is needed.

Then today, the Army released new suicide figures.

It was more bad news, with 28 active-duty and reserve component soldiers believed to have died by their own hand in August. That comes on top of 32 soldiers for July, an all-time record for any month since the Army began collecting those statistics in 2009.

Do the math. That’s a suicide every day over two successive months.

“Suicide prevention training and awareness are vital components of the Army’s health promotion and risk reduction efforts against the tragic occurrence of suicide within our ranks,” said Lt. Gen. Thomas Bostick, the Army’s deputy chief of staff. “It is a priority that deserves our full attention and continued emphasis by all leaders.”

Those are fine words, but somehow I don’t sense the urgency here as the Army heads toward coming close to or matching its 2010 suicide mark, which also was an all-time record at 300.

I’d agree that more study is needed. The Army actually has two studies under way, though both will run five years before we see a report outlining what their scientists and researchers have learned.

In the meantime, a string of studies done in the United States and abroad over the past decade suggest there are great benefits in eating more foods with omega-3 fatty acids and very little risk.

You can get lots of omega-3, by the way, from fish and flaxseed oil.

As the Army talks of wanting to know more about how those fatty acids might impact mental health, both it and the Air Force have made dramatic changes in the way recruits eat in basic training facilities. Fort Sam Houston has jumped on the bandwagon, color-coding its meals in hopes of persuading troops to eat foods that are lower in fat and calories. The “Soldier Fueling” program codes are easy to read and simple to follow, if only you have the willpower.

Green menu items are fewer than 300 calories and 10 grams of fat, or a full dish that is under 500 calories and 18 fat grams.

That’s for your physical health, but the Army appears to have a problem in persuading its troops to eat better. At Fort Sam, the chefs at Dining Facility No. 3 baked up breaded salmon so it looked fried.

That’s funny, but it isn’t, too, and it hints at troubles ahead.

Of course, there’s trouble now. As the media spotlighted the rising tide of soldier suicides years ago, the Army instituted a sweeping number of “resiliency” programs, as well as videos and pocket guides.

Now, as evidence mounts that a simple and inexpensive change in diet might have as much or more impact on reducing suicides, we’re told more studies are needed. That will take time, probably years.

Bostick, meanwhile, is saying the right things in a carefully worded statement that will be cited in stories about the latest suicide report.

“Junior leaders and first-line supervisors can be especially effective in assisting those in a moment of crisis. We collaborate extensively with other federal and national programs to assure we remain abreast of the very latest research and best practices,” he stated.

” To date, our focused efforts have resulted in thousands of trained individuals throughout the Army who now have the skills to recognize the signs of suicide, exercise appropriate intervention techniques, and engage the numerous organizations within the Army and DoD that stand ready to help at any hour of the day or night.”

The Army wants you to think they’re doing everything it can. A cynical person could believe, however, that this is more about PR.

A skeptic would say the numbers show none of those things work.

People might wonder why the Army isn’t rushing to put even greater emphasis on providing food with omega-3 fatty acids in them if it truly has a sense of urgency. They’ve lost a GI every day to suicide over the last two months. How could more fish on the menu hurt?